Coad ambled to the edge of the outdoor swimming pool. He slipped his goggles over his eyes like an aviator about to lift off.

At the blow of a whistle, he leaped.

Coad, a quiet 16-year-old Sunset High School junior, is trim, tan and broad-shouldered. Five days a week for the past nine months, he's been training the freestyle for the greatest competition of his life.

Starting Saturday, Coad, who is autistic, will race against swimmers from around the world in the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games. He is one of 315 Americans and two Oregon swimmers who qualified for competition, which continues through July 4 in Athens, Greece.

Coad will swim the 400-, 800- and 1,500-meter freestyle and relay events in the same pool where his role model, Ryan Lochte, won gold for a freestyle relay in the 2004 Summer Olympic Games.

It's his first time traveling out of the country and his first time competing at a distance greater than 200 meters.

At first, his mother, Mia Coad, had her doubts about whether swimming was a good idea for her son. He didn't speak until second grade. Before then, he expressed his feelings by screaming. When Coad was 8, his first dip in the water ended in a shrieking meltdown.

I don't think we'll be back, Mia Coad remembers saying. But Sharron Patapoff, supervisor of the Beaverton Swim Center's program for kids with developmental or physical disabilities, told the nerve-racked mother not to give up.

After a year of struggle, Mason Coad calmed. The Cedar Mill resident learned to enjoy the serenity of being underwater, where the world is soft and quiet. Under the guidance of his family and swim staff, Coad became a better swimmer. He controlled his behavior. His speed impressed his coaches.

Autistic swimmer to compete in GreeceMason Coad, 16, who is autistic, trains at the West Hills Racquet & Fitness Club in Cedar Hills for the Special Olympics World Summer Games ATHENS 2011 beginning June 25.

"He's a really hard worker," said David Crippen, who taught Coad at the swim center and continues to coach him on the Dolphins, a private club team. "He hardly misses a practice. He never quits."

Two summers ago, Lochte autographed a cap and shirt for Coad during an appearance at JD Pence, a local swim uniform store. "Dream big," the Olympian signed.

Coad clung to those words. He competed -- and won -- regional races organized by the Special Olympics of Oregon, ultimately qualifying for the games in Athens.

His brother, 19-year-old William Coad, used to supervise his little brother at swim practice. Now, he's Mason's biggest fan. He'll be cheering him on with other family members from the stands in Greece.

"I wouldn't want a 'normal' brother," he said. "He's taught me so much about everything."

On the sidelines at practice, he watched his younger brother stroke swaths through the water. "Go get gold," he whispered.

Coad glided beside other elite teen athletes of the Dolphins, a team of state champions and varsity-level swimmers. He's the only one with a disability, but he swims just as fast, and sometimes, faster.

After he qualified for the Special Olympics, his mother decided he needed more rigorous training and registered him for the team. His coaches thought Coad, who typically swims 200-meter events, could handle the challenge of longer distances.

In the water with the other swimmers, he's all legs and arms, his head noticeable only by the American flag on his cap.

"Mason, all the way out," Crippen said, gesturing the correct arc of the arm for the freestyle stroke. The afternoon sun beat down on the swimmers, who darted back and forth in the lukewarm pool. Above them, their coaches paced along the concrete, demanding speed.

His teammates are a little distant, but supportive. Coad doesn't usually sit in the hot tub when the team hangs out, but he listens to their chatter. Or heads straight for the locker room.

He looks up to Jordan Hurwitz in particular, a 16-year-old Sunset High student and one of the fastest on the team.